Here are a bunch of announcements.
Since the weather was uncooperative this past weekend we did not plant the garlic. It looks like the end of this weeks is drier and sunnier. And with it being MEA weekend some of you may be looking for something to do. We plan to plant the garlic this Friday starting around 10:00 am. If you are interested in helping please let me know so we can plan accordingly. We may also dig potatoes if we have extra time and people so if you can’t make it by 10:00 come later! Love to see you out here on a warm sunny day!
This week you will receive popcorn as part of your share. The popcorn needs to dry more before it will pop. The best way is to pull back the husks and use it as a decoration for a few weeks. Then pop off a few kernels and try popping them. If they pop the rest should be good. If they don’t leave it for another few weeks and try again. With the wet weather we’ve had this season I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes a month or more to dry.
We are still taking deposits for next season’s shares. We plan to reduce the number we offer so if you plan to rejoin please do so soon. To reserve your spot and lock in next season’s produce at this year’s price simply send in a check for $100. Or you can order at our online store and pay with a credit card (the store does not allow partial payments so you’ll have to pay the full amount upfront if you choose this method). Finally if you have PayPal you can use it to send the deposit to my email address. I hope everyone returns!
We are selling 10 lb bags of storage onions and five lb bags of shallots. Both are $15 per bag. For drop site members we can deliver them with your produce. Please let me know ASAP if you’d like to order some. Quantities are limited. First come first served.
This is the second to last week of the season. Please plan accordingly.
Farm News
Not a lot of news here on the farm. Mostly a lot of cussing at the various pests who are eating the fall produce. It seems there is a lot more animal damage this season than in season’s past. I don’t know which animals are to blame but I think it is the usual axis of evil — deer, rodents, and birds. When we harvested the popcorn yesterday there were long stretches of plants with no ears where the ears should be. It wasn’t like they didn’t form ears. You could see where they once were. But they were no longer there. Plus there were no cobs on the ground. I’m not sure what would take the ears off the plant and eat them somewhere else. Could be raccoons I suppose, but they tend to just party in the field. Plus the stalks were still standing upright. Maybe the neighbor kids.
In other locations you could find ears where the husks were partially pulled away and most of the kernels missing. All that was left was the cob. I assume these were eaten by either birds or rodents or both. And then there were the ones where the ends were bitten off. I suspect these were damaged by the deer. Suffice it to say that there was a substantial amount of grumbling while picking the popcorn. Thankfully there was enough to still give to our members.
Which brings us to the ornamental corn. Much like the popcorn there was a lot of damage. Unlike the popcorn there wasn’t much left. So unfortunately there isn’t any ornamental corn for FlowerShare this season. It is frustrating to put all the work into a given crop only to have some other creature destroy it shortly prior to it being harvested. This seems to be the theme this season. I need a new theme next season.
What will we have this week?
As I mentioned above we’ll have popcorn! Plus potatoes (fingerlings), carrots, onions, shallots, winter squash, some pumpkins, some beans, small peppers, hot peppers, and a whole bunch of odds and ends like cabbage, leeks, tomatillos, eggplants, and others asundry items.
We also have Fruit, Coffee and Cheese this week.
That is all for now. As always, let me know if you have questions, comments, suggestions (especially how to manage deer, rodents and birds), jokes, etc.